Cooking Tips & Recipe

[iceystarz]

hehehe.. e recipe is here...
i actually love cooking too.. but cos e portions always difficult to gauge, n food can't keep (my mum forbid me to take "overnite" food since preggers).. at least cakes n cookies can keep for a few days or share lor..

250-300g durian puree (preferably e "moist" type of durian meat, otherwise e cake quite dry. e better e quality of ur durian, of cos e nicer ur cake taste lor.. hehehe..)
250g butter (i use SCS butter, most fragrant n "tasty" according to my mum..)
4 eggs - seperate yolk n white
300g sugar (i replaced w 250g icing sugar, cos leftover)
300g flour
1 tablespoon milk (i used fresh milk, those soup tablespoon)
1 teaspoon custard powder (e measuring teaspoon)
half teaspoon baking soda

sieve flour, custard powder, baking powder together.
beat egg white with 50g sugar (or 50g icing sugar) until white, light n "fluffy"
add in egg yolk, butter (slightly melted, cut into smaller pieces easier to blend) n e remainder of e sugar n mix until even.
add in durian puree n lastly, the flour mixture and milk.

this quantity can fit 2 6inches baking tin.. i dont have, so used 1 12inches tin...
bake at 180degrees celcius for 45mins... (using convention oven), i used a microwave-cum-oven, so had to bake 48mins...

e deseeding of durian not siong leh.. its quite easy to get e meat off... n i dont mash.. i simply anyhow use scissors to cut a few times.. if e durian is "moist" enough, dont need to mash too much lor... blending that time will mash n spread liaoz....

 

[iceystarz]

nitez nitez... going to "try" to sleep liaoz...
little fella been keeping me awake for e past few nites...

 

[nice_to_shop]

wah....so many yummy food pictures....very busy ..no time to read all the postings yet...just finisehd baking choc chip cookies and wrapping the presents...need to print some more gift tag..

probably by the time I start reading the postings...whatever I want to know, want to ask, want to say,others have already done so.

 

[nice_to_shop]

 

[nice_to_shop]

Sophie,
I sometimes add corn to the potato salad,for the color and texture,have not tried green peas yet...hmmm..will try it next time.

Your baked fish very Ang Mo Style, reminds me of the baked fish I ate at one of hotel's cafe.

Relax...dont'worry too much...if your gynae says it's ok, IT'S OK! You are already very very careful and eating very heathily....EVERYTHING will be fine!

Amelia,
drooling liao...I am Hokkien,how come never try such stew kampung chicken huh? recipe.....PLS....

annlee,
Your maid is really quite ya ya!Hey, you not only have 2 DS, but also one Qian1 Jin1 Xiao2 Jie3 at home, worse then a spoilt daughter,bo dua bo suei

,better send her off as soon as possible.

You are right, my dd's medicine is Lactobacillus acidophilus-10 billion/sachet.


starz,
Your cake looks so yummy,and it's DURIAN!, make me drool...I wish I could have a slice of it...and sip my kopi with it..

I think your mood swing is probably the preg hormones thing...I also have similar experience, but it's after giving birth...I cried everyday...partly also becos of hb giving 100% attention to bb, treat me like transparent,very sad,and partly beocs of post natal blue.

cat_tail,
Thanks for the Thai style fish recipe...seems quite REFRESHING!

<font color="aa00aa">VERY COMPLETE meal today, got fish, eggplant, chicken,followed by durian cake for dessert!</font>

 

[krisjoy]

Sophie,
Your hb is so nice..already want to pamper you with a holiday

Starz,
How I wish I could taste your durian cake neh! ;D

Van,
Ur teacher's day presents look very professional! I'm sure the teachers would be so happy to receive them. Did you get all the tins and wrappers from Daiso? Cos the last time I went there I din see all these things. Or they just recently stocked up for teachers' day..

 

[ah_cat]

Sophie,
Me too, I luv seabass.

U can try the threadfin fish cos this recipe's gravy has a strong sour &amp; hot taste to cover any fishy smell.

starz,
Your durian cake looks good! U noe I ate durians almost every week during my preggy times &amp; funny thing is my gal hates it. Keke.. think I ate too much until she's sick of it.

Van,
So sweet of you to bake the cookies, I am sure the teacher will be touched.

 

[ann]

Hi mummies,

My hb wants to send the maid off immediately but my side really cannot cope it. Only entertain the 2 little monkeys can take my whole day. We're going to talk to my hb aunti this weekend to see whether can arrange to let us use a temp maid from them first.

cat tail, I like thai steam fish very much, thanks for the recipe! I remember having that in bangkok, they put lotsa lime or lemon and is so nice and i keeping taking the soup gravy until i got gastric pain and spoil my trip. Not exaggerating ok, and that really happen to me hee.....

Aiyo... starz and van keep tempting me about the cake and cookies. I would love to make them but no oven at home. I wanna learn how to make those fondant cake if i owe one oven next time.

sophie, my eggplant got gravy too maybe i put quite alot of lime. The limes you see on pic is only for me, 1 eggplant 1 lime. The eggplant is for all of us including my maid and she likes it too. My hb don't like eggplant but ate 3 of them, maybe he likee the mince meat with lime.

That Bragg soy sauce is nice, you're right, it taste like maggi seasoning sauce. I like maggi sauce but stop taking cos contain MSG.
I bought small size to try first, it comes with a handy spray. Is convenient to use but difficult to measure. Think gotta spray on spoon measure. But I still like it, thanks!

van, your teacher's day cookie looks good and looks presentation. Hard fight with those cookies or cake shop that they display the cookies on the counter.

Tonight I'm making ABC soup with pearl beans and 2 dishes of veggies. One of them is 'shuan3' in hokkien and I call garlic veggie cos I don't know what that in English.

Do mummies here like to eat shuan veggie?

Oh yes....... littlecat not here for few days already. meow... meow.......

 

[sophie]

starz,
Thanks for the recipe! It'll be one of my To-Do's when I no longer have constipation problem

Van,
The rock buns looks nice! Exactly like the ones my sis baked. Except I think my sis made them bigger so she can use up the batter and not have to make so many batches... lazy method

The wrapped-up gifts are very pretty... you paid $2 for each at Daiso yeah? Very good deal!

Yes, later going to see gynae... I think last night got stressed until a bit nauseous and gastric, when actually my nauseousness over liao... think better control my worry-stress levels!

cat_tail,
I'll update you if I can buy and make the fish tonight

annlee,
Good that you're doing something on the maid. Yeah, I think 2 boys can be quite a handful.

Yay! You managed to "bluff" your hubby into eating eggplant

Tell him it's good for his heart + anti-cancerous! If you also have gastric problems, careful not to take too much lime on eggplant too!

I also have no patience with the spray when I first bought the small bottle of Bragg, so I will open up the whole spray cap and pour into spoons to measure when using.

I think "Shuan" is leek. I like it when my mum cooks it... gives a nice flavour, but I wouldn't bite into it... just like the flavour it gives

 

[iceystarz]

morning ladies....

thank u thank u...

ya hor, even my durian cake didn't "tempt" littlecat out... her hubby shd be back from US liaoz rite...???? littlecat, u enjoying 2nd honeymoon ar???? where r u.....????

Van,
can i be one of ur dd's "teachers"...??? hehehe.. e cookies are so well-made n presented.. almost like buy one... u very "24 xiao mummy" leh.. and i mean it in e best way...

cattail,
hehehe.. i donno whether my little boy will love or hate durians when he's out.. cos i been eating it almost every alternate week... my mum used to eat alot of durians when she's pregnant with us too...

annlee,
if u r reli "desperate".. then maybe have to compromise abit.. neglect e other housework for a few days first n get rid of her lor... i'm very stubborn one.. even if i have to compromise ALOT to get things my way, i will lor.. as long as i dont like it....
or complain in a very nasty way to e maid agency... in my "experience", when u r reli nasty n fierce n firm.. usually those in e service line will "give way" n try all means to appease u... i'm always at the "receiving end" of these nonsense... so....

 

[cupcake]

Durian cake, eggplant and thai fish...all my hubby and my fav!!! Will try them out next week. Thanks for the recipe! Any idea what is seabass in chinese called?

 

[sophie]

Van,
As for your hubby showering all his attention on your dd after she was born, I guess it just shows that men are more commonly in "DOS" mode - they can only handle 1 thing at a time. Whereas women are more in "Windows" mode.

So don't take it to heart next time if your hubby says his mum's food nicer, cos for the last 25-30 years, he's been eating only his mum's food, and being in DOS mode, he can only think of his mum and nothing else!

cupcake,
I think seabass is Jin-something.... in Hokkien, I think it's Kim Bak Lor?

 

[ann]

sophie, yes...yes is leek, now i remember.

van is right, if doc says is ok then everything will be fine. Don't stress yourself, later got white hair.

krisjoy, I eat chocolate when im pregnant. Should be fine for chocolate cos preggie allows 1 cup of coffee/tea per day but remember not to eat too much of the chocolate.

 

[ah_cat]

annlee,
U can oso keep a look out with the agent whether they have any transfer maid around. Some are good &amp; my current one is one of it. She really appreciate me as her previous employer makes her slog like hell. She got to clean a 3 storey bungalow, wash 3 toilets, 2 cars everyday &amp; on top of that, look after 2 young kids. U see if they have this kind of maid around, grab 1st..heehee..

Yup, I believe cos I tried taht before. The real autentic Thai steamed fish can burnt! I found one Thai restaurant in Sg tat sells this too, but quite pricey. So sometimes when I got craving, will DIY.

starz,
When he comes out u will beleive me.

 

[cupcake]

Thanks sophie. I know which one oredi. That fish has a 'muddy' taste sometimes rite?

 

[nice_to_shop]

Krisjoy,Sophie,
I got all the containers and plastic gift bags from Daiso.They always have the plastic gift bags at the gift wrapper section.The plastic containers are from the household/plastic ware section very cheap $2 for 2pcs! Metal tin is from the ash tray section,but it's supposed to be O-Cha(tea) storage container.

Starz,
I am going to be 24 Xiao mum and housewife but Kee Xiao that Xiao,haha! Very stressful when my hb is not travelling and at home.

cupcake,
Sea Bass is called Jin1 Mu4 Lu2 in Chinese.

annlee,
I never like to eat eggplant since young, hubby also don't eat. But I do eat Suan/Leek, especially during Chinese new year. Stir Fry with Tau Kwa.

you got your maid from relative who's running maid agency is it? My hb has a cousin running maid running,luckily we never want to get from her, my BIL got from her and a lot of unhappiness,also affected relatives'relationship after that.

Sophie,
I prefer to make the rock buns smaller instead 1 big pc, eat half way sian liaoz. Feels that small one look more appetising, tend to reach out for 2nd,3rd pc.

Do agree that women can mulit-task better than men. Last Sat, I asked my dd to count the things that she, me, and hb has to do on a Saturday morning...hey, he has the shortest list!

Carole,
Didn't Jio you cos I need to chiong there, chiong to two places then Chiong back to pick dd from school mah...and your Clarisse not feeling well mah....How's she now?

<font color="0000ff">BTW, MSN with Priscilla last night,she is flying back from Vancouver last night with her ds,staying in Singapore for 1 month.</font>

 

[iceystarz]

sophie...
good "description" of men... i completely agree!!! they are totally incapable of multi-tasking unlike us.... hehehehe.. next time i call hubby a "DOS" liaoz.....

 

[krisjoy]

Annlee,
Thanks for the advice

Van,
Din know Daiso stocked all these good stuff...next time i'll pay more attention..

 

[ann]

cat tail and starz

We're not going to the same agency anymore. They're bad and we felt cheated as they recommends a maid with experiences and assured us verbally.
I found out that my previous maid has only 1 mth experience 10 yrs ago, my maid told me. The maid dun really know how to do housework and crys everyday. My hb is so angry,send the maid to agency. want them to do something about it but they're very ya ya... so my hb wanted to go to CASE and agency says, wanna go CASE, by all means..... go ahead and we're not afraid. They're service and attitude so bad.
Later my hb finds out that in the contract, agency will not responsible if maid got problem.. something like that so that's why they're not afraid.
We waited very long to get new a maid from them and im so tired so we ask them if theres any and they reply very little and i noticed that they give us all the expenxive one and say no more maids right now. Maybe they're not honest keep all the maid file for new comers and know we need a maid and give us the expensive one that not many ppl wants. That's how i get my this lousy maid right now.
My sister says we're very unlucky.

 

[ann]

van, that's the suan with tau kwa I'm cooking tonight.

My hb aunti is ok. She let us try a few indon maids before but never complain, think she did the same to other relatives too. We tried the indon maids for few days only and that time cannot make it cos is our first time for maid and we can't speak malay. Now we knows they're actually the same... even my maid now her English is bad too... you see im unlucky again.
So now we'll get indon one and ask my aunti to look for one who knows a little english.

 

[ah_cat]

annlee,
If u dun mind, I can recommend my agent but her charges are high. I am not tat well off but since the boss can gurantee me a good one so I am willing to pay. Plus my relative has been using their maids for almost 10 yrs so it gives me some assurance.

 

[ann]

cat tail, what's the charges?

The boss really guarantee you?? So your maid good must be good

 

[nice_to_shop]

Sophie,

Recipe for Rock Buns:

200g plain flour
100g sugar
100g margarine
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
20g ground almond
20g chopped almond
raisins
a little milk

1) Rub margarine into flour(that's the home econs'method,I use a pastry cutter,easier...even dd can help to do it )

.

2) Add sugar,ground almond.Mix well.Add egg and vanilla essence,mix well.

3) Add chopped almond and raisn, mix well,add little milk to make the dough a little bit moist.

4) Use spoons to drop a small portion on greased tray, or tray lined with non-stick baking paper.

5) Bake at 180C for about 20min or until the buns turn light golden brown.

6) Transfer baked rock buns to rack,leave to cool before storing.

 

[krisjoy]

Annlee,
What is your agency name so that we will avoid next time if we want to hire a maid...You can PM me if it is not convenient to mention here..My friend's maid also told her that she has no experience but her agency said that the maid has one year experience. Guess we have to take the agency's words with a pinch of salt...

 

[krisjoy]

Van, this rock bun recipe brings back memories of my home econs days..in fact i remembered this is the first thing we learn to bake

 

[nice_to_shop]

krisjoy,
YES,It's the home econ's rock buns.I've tried other rock buns recipe, but this is still the best,better than some sold at bakery.

Sophie said her sis lost her home econ book, so she missed this nostalgic food.

 

[mayng]

Van: clarisse is ok now.

nice rock buns.. i will try before shifting house. nt sure if hb gng to buy me an oven or nt.. haiz.

 

[nice_to_shop]

Carole,
You keep baking and roasting nice food for him to eat before shifting,he will see it as a Must-Have,sure buy for you!

 

[happysunflower]

Starz,
Cheer up

Every mothers are very "wei da" to give up lots of things... I am sure you are one too

Perhaps it's just your pregnancy hormones and the wait to give birth making you feel sad...

Krisjoy,
I craved for chocolates during pregnancy. So I ate chocolates

But I do not drink tea nor coffee nor milo... hahaha... I finished all the chocolates in my fridge which I never touch before preggie... and realised, good chocolates are not cheap.. lol... I still crave for chocolates now even after giving birth..

cat_tail, annlee,
You both are so funny... lol... I find young man not mature enough... lol...

sophie,
I also feel like going somewhere with my baby...

We used to lead a life of frequent travellers... Now trying to adjust to travelling with baby

I feel like going to Europe end of this year, but it's winter...

Sophie,
Thank you very much for looking out how to cook my aloe vera... I have got most of the ingredients in that recipe

I will try it

Wah... So many nice looking delicious food here! drool...


Van,
Your dd's teachers' day gifts look like buy from outside one... very presentable...


Ok gals... I got no time to follow all the postings liao.. gotta go... later all...

Oh Van, priscilla coming back ah.. I was wondering how's she yesterday... Havent seen her for quite some time already..

annlee,
Dun get those who been to HK as maids... in HK, houses are super duper small and so the maid very free... My cousin got one like that before... If you are lucky, get one like cat_tail's...

 

[nice_to_shop]

nobody wants the chocolate chip cookies recipe is it...but it's quite nice...so I will post it up.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nuts

Depending on the size of your cookies, I made <font color="0000ff">55pcs</font> of small size cookies with this recipe.

(A)
80g white sugar
90g brown sugar
100g unsalted butter
60g margarine
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp salt

(B)
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

(C)
200g Flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

(D)
80g chopped nuts(almond or pecans)
90g mini chocolate chips

PREHEAT OVEN at 180C.

1) Cream (A), then add in (B) and cream till smooth.

2) Add in seived (C),mix till well blended.

3) Add (D) till well incoporated.

4) Bake at 180C for about 18-20min, or until the cookies turn brown. Transfer to rack to cool completely before storing in air-tight container.

<font color="aa00aa">I have reduced the sugar by 40g less than the original recipe,so try not to reduce the sugar further</font>

 

[ah_cat]

annlee,
I just PMed u for the contact, no harm to give the agent a call. My maid is not so perfect but I like her working attitude &amp; most importantly, respectful to me.

 

[starry]

hi,

u gals are good cook after seeing all the pictures. I so pai say to show my food liao.

 

[sophie]

Hi gals,
I just came back from gynae - saw baby moving away quite abit inside, very happy and relieved!

cupcake,
So far the seabass I bought has no muddy taste, cos they're "sea fish"? I thought muddy taste are normally cos they're freshwater fish such as tilapia aka Ni(3) Luo(2) Hong(2)?

cat_tail,
I'm not making the Thai Steamed Fish today, cos hubby not coming back for dinner, so very sian to eat up one whole steamed fish by myself.

Going to do a fried rice with Woh Hup XO sauce, then if weekend cooking, will do the fish.

Van,
Thanks for the Chinese word on seabass. Learnt a new Chinese word today!

Heh, I also prefer my rock buns small, but my sis last time super-lazy, so she makes HUGE ones, and she being the chef and me younger sis, I got no say in her rock buns but just eat!

Thanks for posting the recipe... this is one of those recipes that I've been searching for a long time, cos when I took Home Econs myself, they changed a textbook, and mine no longer has rock buns in it.

I also prefer using pastry cutter, cos I find my hand temperature quite warm, always end up melting the margarine/butter first.

twinkle,
Don't feel paiseh about putting up pics of food... some of us are novices too, e.g. me, always burning my food so my food always look "brown"

lyn,
I think Europe a bit cold, plus the long flight may be tiring just for 1 or even 2 weeks? Actually, I was thinking of India or Sri Lanka, but heh, my MIL sure faint if I ever suggest taking baby to these countries!

 

[krisjoy]

Van,
thanks for the recipe!

Lyn,
Chocolates can actually help to release stress but I always take this an excuse to eat them

Annlee,
Got your PM..will take note. Thanks.

 

[cupcake]

Hi
cooking cod fish again..., any suggestions other than steaming...eat until sianz liao

 

[sophie]

cupcake,
Bake codfish? Can put a bit of miso + mayo on top then when almost cooked, sprinkle with layer of cheese and grill the top till cheese melts?

How you choose cod? I don't dare to buy cod cos scared of fishy smell.

 

[cupcake]

hahaha, for me I juz choose the one with firm flesh. Cod is not fishy as compared to threadfish. I dun hv mayo. Guess juz hv to steam 1st. Will pick up mayo on my next trip to NTUC

 

[ann]

lyn, I almost got a maid who works in HK but got some problem with her passport so got to chose my present maid now.

sophie, relief after seeing your precious and gynae right..... told you what don't stress up

I chose cod fish by seeing the meat looking white and shining. Will not pick those which look a little black dark in colour. But not too sure whether am i right or not.

cupcake, can try marinate cod fish with soy sauce and pan fry it with ginger and spring onion.

 

[ann]

sophie, your bake codfish very ang mo style..... I think i will like it with all the cheese but again no oven

 

[sophie]

cupcake,
Buy the Jap mayo! I prefer Jap mayo cos very good and creamy for potato salad (recipe from Van), and nice mixed with a bit of miso for fish. Plus, it's in a tube/bottle form, so very hygienic, just squeeze.

For miso, I don't buy the tub kind cos cannot finish, so I buy the small individual pack ones for soup, then just mix it with mayo to spread on top of fish.

 

[sophie]

annlee,
Heh, yeah, I was a bit scared and stressed till stomach went a bit haywire last night!
Now OK already - coming in here is quite good cos can talk about food and take my mind off the worries

And the food pictures really cheer me up!

My fishes are all quite angmoh style, cos I don't own a wok yet!

My current fying pan very difficult to fry fish.
Plus angmoh easier to cook, like steaming, just mixed everything in then dump it in for 20mins while I watch TV!

cupcake, annlee,
Thanks for tips on choosing cod. I think my problem was that it has no gills for me to check for redness!
And for salmon, I see color, but also heard that some farm-raised salmon have edible dye injected to make them redder

So now I know how to choose cod

 

[ah_cat]

Sophie,
I am goin to grill Garoupa today. Heehee.. I just luv to eat fish.
For cod fish, normally I will look for shinning one &amp; then press it to check.

cupcake,
I like to grill the cod fish with Teriyaki sauce.

 

[happysunflower]

sophie,
Glad that you and your baby are doing very well

Wah.. India and Sri Lanka with baby ah... But need to go somewhere with clean water...

cupcake,
Steam codfish with another type of sauce? Steam codfish with tomyam paste is also very nice

Also can stir fry fish slices...

 

[krisjoy]

cupcake,
You can also try steam codfish with 'chye-poh' or 'mei-chai'...saw these recipes at cookbooks and they look good leh..

 

[nice_to_shop]

Steam Cod fish with Dou4 Su1 Sauce:

1)Steam cod fish(with ginger,spring onion),when the fish is almost done, use little oil with small fire to saute Dou3 Su1 till crispy in another pan/wok.Remove the ginger,spring onion from fish,push some thin strips of ginger and spring onion on fish again, pour the hot dou su with oil over the fish.

Steam Cod fish wih dried lily buds and black fungus

1) Soak lily buds and black fungus, remove hard parts.Stir fry lightly with chopped garlic, add a little salt or soy sauce,chicken stock granules(optional). Pour over cod fish slice and steam.

 

[nice_to_shop]

Sophie,

You talk about buying a wok very long liao hor?

The fish,durian cake and food pictures didn't tempt LittleCat out yet...must be hb back from US liaoz

Choc must have given birth by now?

sp, how are you feeling today?

 

[starry]

Hi, look like it is fish for dinner tonight. i m going to cook Assam pedas

 

[ann]

twinkle, I used to cook assam pedas from Mrs Lee cookbook but lost the book since i shifted. Share your recipe, thanks!

 

[sophie]

Woah, the codfish with Tom Yum paste + the dried lily buds and black fungus one like Crystal Jade makes one sound good! And steaming is my fav method - no fuss and no oil splatters!

Van,
Yeah, I actually went to see the wok at Tangs last Fri, but it costs $209, and hubby thinks it's very heavy. Still very heartache to part with a 3-digit figure for a wok. But of course for skincare, any amount also can

So I think I'll go check out my bro's recommendation for cheaper woks at Taka this weekend.

My fried rice today not so nice - XO sauce was nice and fragrant, but I think I didn't strain away enough oil, and plus the normal cooking oil for frying the ingredients at first, turned out to be an oily fried rice!

cat_tail,
I also love fish! Eh, you go around pressing fish?

I don't dare leh... scared those aunties scold me!
Are you grilling greasy garoupa or red garoupa? I steamed a red garoupa once, but sooooo tough... I think the fish must have developed a lot of muscles swimming in and out of the rocks!

twinkle,
Can cook assam pedas still say paiseh to put up pics?

Don't be shy lah... look forward to your pic of assam pedas!

annlee,
I've got the New Mrs Lee Cookbook (pink cover one); not sure if it's the same one but it's got an Ikan Pedas recipe. If you want, just let me know and I'll pass you the recipe for Ikan Pedas for reference.

 

[starry]

Ann,
i dun hv Mrs Lee cookbook i use the recipe given by a Malay friend. May not be as nice as Mrs Lee one lor.